Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-12-23

if you are willing"
Glow" he asked. l auswered:
Grind good place on curve where
there are plenty of bushes" las the road
had numberless curves, and ran mostly
through woods, this was easy); 'then let
us put on some distractions and hide: one
of our engineers can run ahead a mile or
two and come back after u.s. when the
enemy stop to clear the track we will rush
on them, and when we have captured
them our other engineer can reverse their
engine and send it in Il hurry down the
track TO clear the road of any more trains
that may be following"
Andrews said, in his quiet way at is n
good plan. 1t is worth trying and
looked around in meditative manner rs
if weighing the chances. Then the
encmy's whistle sounded we saw them
rush up to the Instructions we had placed
on the track, stop by reversing, and labor
as flHn;ically to clear the road as we were
doing in trying to raise the rail.
But our efforts were in vain. The
stubborn spikes still held, and as they
were ready to move on again, Andrews
called out, "All aboard" and we dashed
away That was not the place to make a
fight as we all knew, for revolvers against
chance at long range; but from an am
bush we could have been climbing into
their engine and cars before they could
pick up their guns, aud the conflict would
not have been many minutes doubtful.
This was the nearest we came to what n
southern account called open mutiny''-
a mere respectful suggestion in the line of
our work. No officer WIS ever more
heartily ObcYcd than was Andrews during
the whole of this day, and none of us said
anything more about this plan for the
time. partly because we felt that our
leader was better able to judge what was
To hc done than we. and partly also. |
must confess. because we thought he was
only waiting for the best place to turn on
our foes aud that we would soon have
all the li-hting we wanted
The fun speed Of our engine was again
called into rcquistiun a. we neared Dal-
ton, and by the aid OF n few lies dropped
ON the track we were once more respect.
able distance ahead. We needed this
interval badly. for it was by no means
certain that the switches at this point
would be properly adjusted for our i'm.
mediate passage through: and if not. Sc
rious difficulty might arise. We might
have Il battle with forces in front as well
rs in the rear, for Dalton was the largest
town we had reached since leaving
Marietta. Here Il road diverged TO Cleve-
land i'll Tennessee, where it connects with
the main line from Richmond to Chatta-
noOga, thus making n large triangle or, as
railroad man would say, Il great Y. At
that time no telegraph wires were ON this
cross road; they were not put up till 1877.
There were also numerous side tracks.
and probability that cars might be left
standing on some of them; and as we had
more than made up our hours delay at
Kingston and We're now much ahead of
time. there was no certainty of the road
being rightly adjusted for us. 1t was
therefore necessary to stop at the open
ing Of The switch, which was fortunately
n little way down from the large passen-
ger depot. which had shed over all the
tracks, and through which we had to
pass
Here the GOODNESS and adroitness of An
GrewS Shonc out with pre- emincnt luster.
1t il likely that when we had spoken of
fighting little way back, his mind was
occupied rather with the problem of pass
ing Dalton, and of Judging by what took
place there whether the enemy was warned.
The train was stopped, he ran forward.
observed that the track was clear, spoke
to one on two bystanders, and was back
to his post in an exceedingly short time
To one or two who had come up even in
these few seconds, he said: II am running
this train through to Corinth. and have
no time to spare:n and nodded To Knight,
who once more put on the full force of
the cnginc-there was nothing to be gained
by care in avoiding alarm any longer. for
the distant whistle of the pursuer was
hcard-ind we rIshed at the depot which
then stood right across the double track
and passed with fearful speed under its
roof. Here Knight got his most terrible
fright The darling into the partial dark
ness of the shed was bad enough. but lust
at the far end the main track bends sharply
to the left, and the swerve was 50 sudden,
and the speed already SO high. that Knight
believed he was rushing ON another side
track and that in a moment would come
the awful crash. But instead the engine
instantly righted, and he again saw the
track straight before him. But so quickly
had we passed that we could not certainly
determine whether the people at the sta
tiun had been warned or not,
\ mile above Dalton which was about
as soon as The headlong rush of the engine
could he checked, we stopped again, Just
opposite 10 NItTt NOl. Jesse tIlcnll rtEl-
mcnt of cun>cripts were encamped in
field. Their position, which was within
200 or BOO yards of us, was probably not
seen until we were close To them, and it
was better to take the risk of their inter
ference than to lose time by seeking an
other place for more pressing work
Again the wire was cut; but it was a
second too late, for u message had just
been flashed through, no doubt even as
Scott was bringing it down. The usual
Instructions were here piled on the track,
and we again essayed to take up rail-
for the Chickamauga bridges were just
above and We wanted time enough to get
them ON fire, hoping that Fuller would
stop long enough at Dalton for the pur-
pose of getting his telegram ready, to
allow us to finish the track lifting No
men ever worked with more desperate en-
ergy, but all III vain; long before the rail
was loose the pursuers were again upon
us.
The race recommended with all its speed
and fury. The great tunnel was short